Cake decoration has a long history with much effort placed upon the talents of the artist and his or her personal tools for the accomplishment of a highly decorated and much prized edible masterpiece. Variations in the methods and systems used in cake decorations have paralleled that of those used in artistic productions of statuary or fine art canvas work.
Decoration of cakes, pastries, ice cream, or the like foodstuffs with intimately bound frostings or icings is normally accomplished prior to sale of what is considered the finished product. Although frostings and icings have been usually applied using a baker's pastry bag, advancements toward improvements in the application of a cake decoration have been successful in new innovations disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,432,473 and 4,966,537 using a hand-held cartridge type icing ejector, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,517 for applying multiple colored icings simultaneously to a cake surface.
This traditional cake decoration scenario reinforces the fact that cake-decorating products have always been intended for use in completing the decoration of a cake before it is presented.
Changes made to such intimately bound cake decorations as frosting or icing immediately prior to the presentation of such may involve the addition of minor components such as candles. However, the possibility of creating a change in the color, texture, and tapestry of a cake frosting or icing in an instant would be a very dramatic and desirable effect for many celebrations. A device capable of independently decorating a cake with colorful candy particles or sugars with a simple remote device could provide entertainment, surprise, and contribute to the celebratory occasions where decorated cakes find their place as traditions. It is with this in mind that the present invention has been developed from devices known as confetti launchers which include but are not inclusive of U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,006 which teaches the use of an air bulb for launching, U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,211 which teaches the use of an air cartridge for confetti launching to obtain great distances, U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,551 which teaches the use of a spring to launch, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,772,491 and 6,450,160 which both teach the use of a removable air gas cartridge system, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,572,435 and 6,669,530 both teach of the use of a spring loaded confetti hand held device. All are examples of such devices created to expel or launch confetti components in an entertaining manner and to be expelled to the maximum distance possible by the device design. Use of existing devices was unrealistic due to the nature of the devices, which are constructed to release confetti with a maximum of force and to reach a maximum distance. Restricting the output distance and shaping of the output burst of particles was not an issue of consideration. It was therefore necessary to create an entirely new particle ejecting method and device that would allow edible particle to emerge into a specific fountain-like geometric form and with a specific and limited distance so as to allow the resulting particle rain to land upon a specific surface area of the cake.
It is the intent of this patent to provide a new party celebration device heretofore not considered. The device is an edible particle ejecting mine designed in such a manner so as to produce a controlled and limited distance, shaped burst of edible particles from a location central to the cake itself and with the result of raining edible fallout for the purpose of imparting a change to the existing cake surface in a surprising and entertaining manner.
Although the invention is intended for use with a bundt, an angel food, or a similar shaped cake, having a central vertical opening or hole, creativity will allow its use with other pastries, pies, and even molded ice cream or gelatin desserts and to be co-located close to, or central to the cake as the individual case may dictate.